This is an article submitted to a 1999 Louisville Sentinel contest to find out who had the wildest Christmas dinner. This
won first prize.

"Christmas with Louise"

As a joke, my brother used to hang a pair of panty hose over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted was
for Santa to fill them. What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be true because every Christmas morning, although
Jay's kids' stockings were overflowed, his poor
pantyhose hung sadly empty. One year I decided to make his dream come true.

I put on sunglasses and went in search of an inflatable love doll. They don't sell those things at Wal-Mart.

I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown. If you've never been in an X-rated store, don't go. You'll only confuse yourself.
I was there an hour saying things like, "What does this do?" "You're kidding me!" "Who would buy
that?"

Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section. I wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll that could also substitute
as a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool lane during rush hour.

Finding what I wanted was difficult. Love dolls come in many different models. The top of the line, according to the side
of the box, could do things I'd only seen in a book on animal husbandry. I settled for "Lovable Louise." She was
at the bottom of the price scale.

To call Louise a "doll" took a huge leap of imagination. On Christmas Eve, with the help of an old bicycle
pump, Louise came to life. My sister-in-law was in on the plan and let me in during the wee morning hours, long after Santa
had come and gone, I filled the dangling pantyhose with Louise's
pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a nearby tray. I went home,
and giggled for a couple of hours.

The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had been to his house and left a present that had made him VERY happy
but had left the dog confused. She would bark, start to walk away, then come back and bark some more. We all agreed that
Louise should remain in her panty hose so the rest of the family could admire her when they came over for the traditional
Christmas Dinner.

My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in the door. "What the hell is that?" she asked. My brother
quickly explained, "It's a doll."

"Who would play with something like that?" Granny snapped. I had several candidates in mind, but kept my mouth
shut. "Where are her clothes?" Granny continued. Boy, that turkey sure smells nice, Gran," Jay said, trying
to steer her into the dining room. But Granny was relentless. "Why doesn't she have any teeth?"

Again, I could have answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance
saying, "Hang on Granny! Hang on!"

My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight, sidled up to me and said, " Hey, who's the naked gal
by the fireplace?" I told him she was Jay's friend. A few minutes later I noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking
to Louise. Not just talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we realized this might be Grandpa's last Christmas at
home.

The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk about who had died, who was dying, and who should be killed, when suddenly
Louise made a noise that sounded a lot like my father in the bathroom in the morning.

Then she lurched from the panty hose, flew around the room twice, and fell in a heap in front of the sofa The cat screamed.
I passed cranberry sauce through my nose, and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and began administering mouth
to mouth resuscitation. My brother fell back over his chair and wet his pants and Granny threw down her napkin, stomped out
of the room, and sat in the car.

It was indeed a Christmas to treasure and remember.

Later in my brother's garage, we conducted a thorough examination to decided the cause of Louise's collapse. We discovered
that Louise had suffered from a hot ember to the back of her right thigh. Fortunately, thanks to a wonder drug called duct
tape, we restored her to perfect health.

Louise went on to star in several bachelor party movies. I think Grandpa still calls her whenever he can get out of the
house.